Gold demand was little changed in
the first quarter as jewelry purchases countered declines in investment and
central bank buying, the World Gold Council said.
Global demand fell to
1,074.5 metric tons in the quarter, from 1,077.2 tons a year earlier, the
London-based council said today in a report. The gain in jewelry usage
represented the strongest start to a year since 2005 with buying up about 10
percent in China, the biggest gold consumer. While bar and coin demand slid a
combined 39 percent, sales through bullion backed exchange-traded products were
the lowest in more than a year.
European central banks
agreed to cap sales at 400 tons a year through September, and made a fourth
gold agreement yesterday, without a limit on sales. The European Central bank
and 20 others said they currently don’t have any plans to dispose of
“significant” amounts of the metal.
No comments:
Post a Comment